From: Florian Gross <flgr@...>
Date: 2004-06-29T03:02:57+09:00
Subject: Re: Is it considered Harmful?

Gavin Sinclair wrote:

> I don't even know what
>   x = X.new
>   x.class = Y
> is supposed to mean.  But I do understand the idea behind this:

I can make up a quick example that has no real-world meaning:

> irb(main):001:0> array = [1, 2, 3]
> => [1, 2, 3]
> irb(main):002:0> class MyArray < Array; def reverse; sort_by {rand}; end; end
> => nil
> irb(main):003:0> array.class = MyArray; array.reverse
> => [2, 1, 3]

Does it have any use in real world code? I don't know. If anybody has an 
idea for a better example then please feel free to post it.

>   x.become y
> Are the two ideas really one and the same in this thread?

I think that they are different in what they concretely do, though 
similar in what they abstractly do. (They're both about changing Objects 
in a way that you usually can't after their construction.)

Regards,
Florian Gross